Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

raven136

Cost me 450 the last match against chelsea,well worth every penny and great craic on the way over

PHB

489 isn't bad at all, considering if you went on your own, you'd probably have trouble getting a ticket for that much.

redspider

I dont think people should get too hung up on that magical number. Note that many so-called 20+ goal strikers get quite a few of them from the penalty spot which many stats sources dont divulge too readily. Headline numbers like that can be misleading.

The key thing for any team is to ensure that thy have an attacking force, which is forward and midfielders that can create chances and create goals. Even full-backs, centre-backs chipping in with goals also helps and football is very much a team effort. Dead-ball sitiuation. corners aned of course free-kick speacilists are all facets that are needed. Likewise in the defensive stakes its a team effort.

For a forward, it helps to be clinical when presented with chances yet not selfish to the detriment of missing chances. I'd like to see more goals from the likes of Alonso with shots from outside the box. I think he could definitely improve in that area.

Having 3 or 4 strikers also distributes the tallies around, and shares responsibility and Liverpool currently have Bellamy, Kuyt and Crouch who all cant play in every game.

Generally, Liverpool need to be scoring more goals but the deficiencies are in many areas around the pitch, not just up front. It would be interesting to see who Rafa is interested in during the summer. With West Ham likely to get relegated, Tevez is likely to be on the move, and with Mascherano already at Liverpool, is he a potential target? Perhaps ..... But he wouldnt be a 20-goal player but to me would be very much Kuyt-like.

Overall, I'm not too focussed on next season yet as the important matter of the CL games v Chelsea are paramount.

Redspider

HashSlinging

Excellent

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6697774

herbieflowers

Finnan is 31?!

PiE

I was wondering about Finnan. He didn't even make the bench against M'boro.. is/was he injured?

leninbenjamin

herbieflowers wrote:

Finnan is 31?!

i think he's only 30. he'll be 31 in a few days though.

Vokes

Yeah, mad isnt it, he's 31 in a few days time. Shay Given also 31 in a few days. Both would be the eldest players in the Irish team (after Carsley).

Ardent

That's great news for Finnan. He so deserves an improved contract. He has been immense since Benitez took over. Best right back in the league by some distance and my Liverpool player of the season so far.

Made up for the lad.

herbieflowers

leninbenjamin wrote:

i think he's only 30. he'll be 31 in a few days though.

What?! He looks so young though, as if he's in his early-mid twenties! Anyway...

gary the great

Fair play to finnan he's a great player and was one of houliers best buys.

I'll be down in Portsmouth next Saturday (28th) should i be able to get tickets? Are they hard to get outside grounds? This will be Fratton Park so i think it shouldnt be to hard?

zAbbo

He was very shaky in his first season, but in his second season onwards he's been immense.

mike65

Steve Finnan is 15, can't be a day older. He's doing his Junior Cert in a month)!

He was rested for the Boro game.

Mike.

~Rebel~

Just back home from the Boro game. Was still a great atmosphere there, even with it not being the most important of games. Was a perfectly held minute silence at the start, along with a rendition of "justice for the 96" just after kick off. Was in the upper Anfield Road stand so didnt get to see the goals so well (were scored into the Kop), but even from a full pitch away could see Gerrards cracker was class. Ill throw up a few photos and possibly video at some point if i can.

Crouch had a very effective game, holding up the ball and playing it off for the onrushing midfielders, and got taken down for the pen.

Boro were pretty terrible, anytime they reclaimed the ball, they lost it immediately pretty much, though they did manage a decent enough spell of play for about five or ten minutes in the second half where they put on a bit of pressure (Yak should have played in one time alright which would have been dodgy). Liverpool played some great approach play but lacked the killer instinct for much of the game.

Best game i've seen Pennant play - he was great (though taylor left him far too much space), he was always always free on the right and managed to put in a decent ball 90% of the time, showed a bit of skill around the box, especially at one point when he set up Momo who really really should have scored. Momo wasn't great, Mascherano was brilliant. Quietly won the ball so many times i lost count. Arbeloa was solid, did some great linking up with pennant down the right side, both were always looking to put pressure on.
Carra was solid, but for a slight lapse in concentration once or twice, was quite impressed with the subtlety of Aggers play, just a quick foot in here, a short glancing headed pass there and potentially dangerous situations were diffused, looked very mature.

Zenden on the left, when compared with Pennants work on the right, was terrible. Did very little of note. A fews times i noticed Gerrard moving out to Zendens position to receive the ball rather then leave zenden do something. Was nice to see Gonzalez for a few minutes at the end - christ he's fast!!!

Kuyt was very workmanlike, plenty of tackles thrown in, couldnt really see what he was doing in around the box though, as was the other end, though him being on and momo being off definately gave us extra impetus in the final third and resulted in goals very quickly.

Apologies for the length! Still on a bit of a high i think!

mike65

Nice to get first hand (70 yards away) reports!

Mike.

Sunn

is there a liverpool supporters club in munster? I can't remember if i asked this already..sorry

YNWA

Dub13

Sunn wrote:

is there a liverpool supporters club in munster? I can't remember if i asked this already..sorry

I am sure there is,you should check the official site they have a list of all the supporters clubs.

Dr. Nick

Sunn wrote:

is there a liverpool supporters club in munster? I can't remember if i asked this already..sorry

YNWA

They're listed in Friday night's Evening Echo as far as I can remember.

redspider

~Rebel~ wrote:

Was a perfectly held minute silence at the start, along with a rendition of "justice for the 96" just after kick off.

Best game i've seen Pennant play - he was great (though taylor left him far too much space), he was always always free on the right and managed to put in a decent ball 90% of the time, showed a bit of skill around the box, especially at one point when he set up Momo who really really should have scored. Momo wasn't great, Mascherano was brilliant. Quietly won the ball so many times i lost count. Arbeloa was solid, did some great linking up with pennant down the right side, both were always looking to put pressure on.
Carra was solid, but for a slight lapse in concentration once or twice, was quite impressed with the subtlety of Aggers play, just a quick foot in here, a short glancing headed pass there and potentially dangerous situations were diffused, looked very mature.

Zenden on the left, when compared with Pennants work on the right, was terrible.

Apologies for the length!

No need to apologise for the length, at least to me anyway.

Yeah, I agree, Pennant is doing a very good job in most games, makes good use of the ball and gets some good balls in and also works hard when in defensive mode. He is coming on in leaps and bounds. Overall, doesnt get enough into goal-scoring opportunities for the level I think we should be aspiring to. Maybe he will surpirse me and develop that asset.

Its good that Mascherano is playing so well as well. He could very well be a key figure for the Chelsea matches.

What selection in a 4-4-2 formation would people pick for that game?

choices, choices ......

Redspider

zAbbo

Pennant is horribly right footed, and is yet to learn the Finnan drag back and left foot float cross.

~Rebel~

redspider wrote:

What selection in a 4-4-2 formation would people pick for that game?

choices, choices ......

Redspider

What id like to see i think (though not a 4 4 2) would be;

---

Reina
Finnan---Carra--Agger---Riise

---

Mascherano

---

Alonso--Gerrard

Pennant

---

Bellamy

---

Kuyt

possibly with kuyt in bellers position and crouch in kuyts.

In a strict 4-4-2 at Stamford Bridge i'd like to see

---

Reina
Finnan

---

Carra---Agger

---

Riise

Pennant--Alonso--Mascherano--Gerrard

---

Kuyt

---

Crouch

mike65

For the away leg

---

Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Arbaloa

---

Masch
Pennant

---

Alonso

---

Riise

---

Gerrard

---

Crouch

Which can become a 4-5-1 when Pool get two on the board

Mike.

Dont be at yourself

I'd imagine we'll see something similar to mike's formation. Pennant did well against Chelsea at Anfield and is on form, and Rafa will be happy enough with a draw so will probably pack the midfield.

zing

Reina, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Riise, Gonzalez, Alonso, Crouch, Pennant, Kuyt, Carragher, Zenden.
Subs: Dudek, Agger, Gerrard, Bellamy, Mascherano.

Gerrard, Agger, Finnan & Momo all being rested by the looks of it.

Never comfortable seeing Zenden's name on a team sheet but I don't care who plays as long as we get the 3 points.

mike65

So thats

---

Reina
Arbeloa---Carra--Hyypia--Riise
Pennant-Alonso-Zenden-Gonzo

---

Crouch--Kuyt

should be good enough, even with Zenden! I was half expecting to see Kewells name on the subs bench.

Mike.

Malice

I thought Pennant and Gonzalez were excellent yesterday against Wigan. Paul Jewell had obviously set his stall out to defend but thankfully we were able to get a goal and from then on it was really just a matter of how many we would score. Hopefully this is a sign that when the smaller teams (Everton) come to Anfield looking to nick a draw we will be able to deal with that game plan successfully.

I was also delighted to see Sami put Emily Heskey into his pocket and not let him out until he was substituted. After the treble season, Heskey's Liverpool career deteriorated and I used to wince every time his name was on the scoresheet. Much like how I feel about Zenden actually

mike65

I see the Socceroos (*cough*) want Kewell in thier Asian Cup squad this summer.

Mike.

redspider

All of those formations look fairly solid, Mike65 and Rebel. I too would like to see Alonso playing more forward in a 4-1-2-etc type of formation and 'beside' Gerrard, but I think Rafa prefers two holding players, and Alonso is played back quite deep and is now very used to that role.

Pennant probably deserves his berth, but also Rafa normally plays Riise as left midfield against Chelsea so it could be Gerrard 'out right' (roaming in practice).

Time to start a Chelsea v Liverpool CL semi 1st leg thread I think ....

By the way, did anyone see the Uefa stats for distances covered by players, etc. I didnt check but is the data available online? Gerrard covered something like 11 km in the last CL match v PSV.

Redspider

copacetic

mike65 wrote:

For the away leg

---

Reina
Finnan--Carra--Agger--Arbaloa

---

Masch
Pennant

---

Alonso

---

Riise

---

Gerrard

---

Crouch

Which can become a 4-5-1 when Pool get two on the board

Mike.

this is what I think we will see at chelsea, possible that we will go for kuyt ahead of crouch for his workrate and throw crouchy on with 20 mins left.

I'd be happy enough with that formation.

~Rebel~

just went into my fantasy champions league team to put Kuyt in for crouch, after the game he had yesterda (and given that he's scored, and hit the bar against chelsea in the 2 prem games this year), and it says he's suspended, even though it is up to date with Chelsea being the next opponants. Im sure its wrong, but just wanted to double check..

mike65

Thats wrong - he sat out the second PSV game on a one match suspenion knowing he needed to miss that game, not the next one!

Mike.

~Rebel~

yup cool, thats what i thought, just making sure. Of course now that i've swapped them, crouchy will score another hattrick, and kuyt will be sent off.

yom 1

~Rebel~ wrote:

yup cool, thats what i thought, just making sure. Of course now that i've swapped them, crouchy will score another hattrick, and kuyt will be sent off.

I'd feel for you - I would - but I'd be dancin around the place if Crouch got a hattrick!:p

Sunn

if we win the match on wednesday I might actually cry.

Malice

Sunn wrote:

if we win the match on wednesday I might actually cry.

Don't forget the tie will be decided over 2 legs. No more than the Barcelona game, an away win would be fantastic but even if we stuff them in London, it'll still only be half time in the tie overall.

I'm hoping AC Milan make it through against Utd. If it were to happen, a Liverpool v Utd final would just be too nerve-wracking. The stress of it all would probably knock years off my life expectancy

copacetic

malice_ wrote:

Don't forget the tie will be decided over 2 legs. No more than the Barcelona game, an away win would be fantastic but even if we stuff them in London, it'll still only be half time in the tie overall.

I'm hoping AC Milan make it through against Utd. If it were to happen, a Liverpool v Utd final would just be too nerve-wracking. The stress of it all would probably knock years off my life expectancy

I disagree I really want a utd v liverpool final. Yes, there is a chance of a nightmare defeat to take, but it is outweighed imo by the potential for the sweetest victory ever..

Malice

copacetic wrote:

I really want a utd v liverpool final. Yes, there is a chance of a nightmare defeat to take, but it is outweighed imo by the potential for the sweetest victory ever..

I agree that if Liverpool were to beat Man Utd in the Champion's League final it would be particularly sweet. I suppose I'm just such a pessimist at heart that I always look for the worst case scenario.

HashSlinging

Stop the dreaming. lets get over this stage !!

gary the great

Anyone know which UK channels this is on? Im over in london and dont have RTE , setanta, sky or TV3.

Id rather watch it at home so i can concentrate on it, but if its not on any of my channels ill have to go the pub.

mike65

Its only on Sky Sport in UK, the return leg is on ITV 1

Mike.

Tusky

Fernando Torres never walks alone

IrishMike

Follow up tusky from tribalfootball

Liverpool chances of landing Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres have moved up a notch after revelations over the weekend.

The Sun says Torres - a summer transfer target for Anfield boss Rafa Benitez - has the Kop's famous 'You'll never walk alone' slogan on the inside of his skipper's armband.

The 22-year-old's secret was revealed by accident when the armband came loose during Atletico's 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad on Saturday.

And it has fuelled talk that Torres has his heart set on a move to Anfield at the end of the season.

But Atletico insist Torres will not be sold for a penny less than the £27 million transfer clause in his contract.

His stats arent exactly mindblowing
2002/03 Season Totals 30 13
2003/04 Season Totals 38 19
2004/05 Season Totals 40 17
2005/06 Season Totals 38 14
2006/07 Season Totals 32 11

He has got 4 assists in 5 years.
Cant see him getting anywhere near 40 games for Liverpool a season.
He will be lucky to come out with 30 i would imagine and would be suprised at anything more than
12-14 goals. For the money i really cant see it being a good investment.
Thats the same goal scoring return as belamy at almost 3 times the money.

Mr Alan

not sure about torres to be honest, especially for that money.
I think that who we should be trying our damndest to get in is Tevez, considering west ham will probably be relegated and we have a load of spanish speakers and his mate Mascherano is already there! Think he could be what we need, maybe he'd free up Kuyt to stay around the box more as opposed to being all over the park

RE*AC*TOR

I like Torres, he has speed and strenght and an eye for goal. I certainly rate him higher than Villa, however, how he would adjust to the "English Game" is anyones guess. Certainly he is the caliber of player we should be aiming for.

el rabitos

there are alot of spanish people and players that are liverpool fans given the club's spanish flavour, i wouldnt read too much into it tbh.

if there was 1 striker i would rather not take from la liga it would torres, he'd struggle majorly in the premiership, hell, he struggles with the physicality in la liga. he's overrated and overpriced.

the sooner people realise that liverpool wont be spending stupid money on marque names, the less dissapointed they'll be when rafa signs none.

Mr Alan

have to say i agree, cant see Rafa spening big on any one player, not really that kind of manager...... we can all dream though! Sammy Eto'o, honetly think i'd die of happiness if he came to Liverpool

Cant even see Rafa spending big to get Alves though TBH

zing

millersangel wrote:

have to say i agree, cant see Rafa spening big on any one player, not really that kind of manager...... we can all dream though! Sammy Eto'o, honetly think i'd die of happiness if he came to Liverpool

Cant even see Rafa spending big to get Alves though TBH

I disagree somewhat. It's not that he won't spend big - it's that he won't pay over the odds for any given player. Give him the money and I think he'll spend what he has to to get *the right player*. Whoever that happens to be

missingtime

There is a lot to be said for getting a player who has played a bit in the premiership previously.
Jermaine Defoe,Darren Bent et al.

They'l be pricey but a least we wont have to wait for them to get used to the premiership

Mr Alan

zing wrote:

I disagree somewhat. It's not that he won't spend big - it's that he won't pay over the odds for any given player. Give him the money and I think he'll spend what he has to to get *the right player*. Whoever that happens to be

well last year didnt he back out of the Alves deal at the 11th hour because he felt that Seville were looking for too much at 12 million? if this is the case surely he wont pay 25-30 million for anyone who is not proven in the premiership

zing

millersangel wrote:

well last year didnt he back out of the Alves deal at the 11th hour because he felt that Seville were looking for too much at 12 million? if this is the case surely he wont pay 25-30 million for anyone who is not proven in the premiership

Circumstances have changed somewhat in that the budget constraints of previous years should now be relaxed considerably. Maybe the club simply couldn't broker a suitable deal for Alves (e.g. Seville wanting too much cash up front). Cash has been a constraining factor for him to date - to take 2 very recent examples ... we only got Kuyt because DM dipped into his own pocket and we only get Arbeloa because Villa sold Baros and that triggered a further payment to LFC (without which we didn't have the money for him).

But yeah - I do think that if a player becomes available who he feels is the perfect fit for what he's looking for then he will be prepared to spend big on that player if he has to (without paying over the odds though). If that means spending 5m, 10m, 20m or 30m on a player then so be it. But when those players will come along is another story - as I said it would have to be *the right player*.